Sized coated pistons

ABSTRACT

A piston having a defined sized outer diameter. The piston has a defined, coated surface which determines the specific outer diameter of such surface which is the contact surface with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine. The defined surfaces are either the skirt or the top land ring, or both.

This invention is a division and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/786,772, filed Nov. 1, 1991, and entitled COATED PISTON AND METHOD OF COATING THE SAME now U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,142.

This invention relates to a piston having a defined sized outer diameter and more particularly, to a piston with a defined, coated surface which determines the specific outer diameter of such surface which is the contact surface with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It will be appreciated that during the operation of an internal combustion engine having pistons reciprocating in cylinders, that uncombusted gases will pass through the gap between the outer diameter of the piston and the wall of the cylinder. This gap between the piston and cylinder at the head or top land ring area of the piston is generally called crevice volume. It is an accepted fact that a portion of the unburned gases that are allowed to pass into the crevice volume are exhausted from the engine as unburned or partially burned gases, creating undesirable emissions, considered pollutants to the environment. This gap exists partly to accommodate the thermal expansion of the head of the piston (1) in the hottest possible case and (2) the most distorted or unround cylinder of a multi-cylinder engine. This required clearance at the outer diameter of the piston is accentuated by the machining tolerance capability of the piston manufacturer such that the largest potential machined size is normally less than the size required to eliminate touching or seizing in the cylinder in any of the cylinders of a multi-cylinder engine during the hottest operation as predicted in any projected engine operation in any typical climate. This clearance also results in undesirable piston motion occurring during the operation of the engine due to manufacturing tolerances of the piston skirt and the cylinder size allowing the piston to move laterally and rock or tilt in the cylinder, increasing crevice volume.

The only attempts of which I have knowledge to solve the above problem have been to develop techniques for more accurately machining the pistons and cylinders to tighter specific dimensions. However, machining tools wear while machining the pistons, which results in the same tool eventually machining pistons of different diameters. For example, a typical piston with a nominal diameter of 80 mm will be supplied in three "grade" sizes, equating to three diameter ranges. For example:

    ______________________________________                                         Grade       Size Range                                                         ______________________________________                                         A           79.976-79.992 mm                                                   B           79.992-80.007 mm                                                   C           80.006-80.016 mm                                                   ______________________________________                                    

This variation in piston sizes leads to a wide variation in piston to bore clearance. To my knowledge: there has been no success in solving the above problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/786,772 referred to above, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, describes a process and apparatus for applying a dry-film lubricant coating to defined areas of a piston and more specifically, the largest exterior surface of the piston referred to as the skirt. As described in patent application Ser. No. 07/786,772, a dry-film lubricant helps to reduce friction and wear. Further, such process applies a coating to a precise thickness and therefore, I conceived of applying a coating to the piston skirt (the guide surface of the piston) such that a much more precise size control is maintained than can be achieved by machining alone. I also conceived that with this approach each piston can be measured and a process used such that a predetermined thickness of coating be applied to each piston to bring the final coated size of the diameter of the piston skirt to a predetermined level. This allows the piston to be more stable, and more completely fill the cylinder. Further, I conceived a controlled thickness coating which can be applied to the top land ring of the piston, thus reducing the crevice volume for the relationship between the piston and the individual cylinder it acts in. This land coating may be compressible and abradable such that contact with the cylinder will not lead to failure of the operation of the piston or cylinder. Furthermore, the top land ring usually has an outer diameter significantly less than the skirt area, to allow for thermal expansion and manufacturing tolerances. If a top land ring is coated to the appropriate thickness with a compressible and/or abradable coating, the gap at this area would be severely reduced as well. This increase of the land ring diameter, through the addition of one or more layers of coatings would reduce undesirable emissions, including hydrocarbons, discharged by the cylinder.

In accordance with one aspect of this invention the diameter of the area to be coated for each individual piston is required and a calculation is performed to determine the optimal film thickness for each individual piston or each range of pistons and then the precise thickness of coating is applied to each individual piston or range of pistons. In another aspect, different compositions can be applied to different parts of the piston at different times or at the same time.

Thus, the present invention provides for a piston with a diameter of the piston at tile skirt to be controlled to a level not possible through present machining techniques. It provides for this precise diameter by first measuring the piston, then calculating the amount of coating required to achieve the desired diameter for each individual piston or range of pistons, then applying the coating by using a rotary pad printing technique to produce the precise film thickness. I have discovered that dry-film lubricant coatings, adjusted with solvent to the appropriate viscosity and evaporation rate and other mechanical techniques can be applied with this method to a film thickness range of 2 to over 25 microns per print in a statistically confident manner. In addition, more than one section of the piston can be coated with different thickness coatings and with layers of coatings of different compositions as needed to function as desired in the cylinder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a piston with a skirt coated with a dry-film lubricant and a top land ring coated with a compressible and/or abradable coating preferably using the multi-stage pad printing process of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of the piston of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view of FIG. 2 rotated 90°;

FIG. 4 is a side-elevational view illustrating one apparatus for supporting the piston while it is being coated and for rotating it so that defined areas can be coated;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane V--V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane VI--VI of FIG. 4 illustrating the internal construction of the apparatus for supporting and rotating the piston;

FIGS. 7A-7F are side-elevational views of the apparatus for coating the skirt of a piston;

FIGS. 8A-8F are side-elevational views of apparatus for coating the top land ring of a piston;

FIGS. 9A-9F are side-elevational views of the apparatus for simultaneously coating the top land ring and the skirt of a piston; and

FIG. 10 is a view of the apparatus of FIG. 9 taken along the plane IX--IX of FIG. 9C.

Referring now to the drawings and the embodiments illustrated therein, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 disclose the piston 10 of this invention which is provided with a crown 11 and an outer curved surface area comprising the piston skirt 12 and a ring band including the top land ring 13, both of which are subjected to frictional contact with the inner surface of a cylinder (not shown). Between the top land ring 13 and the skirt 12 the ring band has grooves 13a for receiving piston rings (not shown). Piston skirt 12 has two curved surface areas 12a and 12b which are diametrically opposite from one another. Piston 10 also has a pair of diametrically opposite wrist pin openings 14. The top land ring 13 usually has an outer diameter less than the diameter of the skirt 12 to allow for thermal expansion and manufacturing tolerances. In accordance with this invention, this skirt 12 and/or the top land ring 13 are coated with one or more layers of appropriate material to obtain a precise diameter that cannot be achieved by machining alone.

The material to be applied to the skirt 12 is a wetted, resin-bonded dry-film lubricant such as flouropolymer lubricant or a molybdenum disulfide or graphite, although any combination of dry-film lubricant and resin binder can be modified to be applied by the transfer pad process to a piston through the use of appropriate solvents.

To demonstrate this principal, a mixture of a conventional epoxy resin system (with cross linker and catalyst) was loaded with graphite at a rate ratio of 1:1 by weight and diluted with a 50/50 mixture of diethylene glycol butyl ether and cyclohexanone to a percent solids level of 50%. This material was transferred to a piston skirt using rotary pad printing equipment manufactured by Trans Tech America, Inc. of Carol Stream, Ill.

The thickness of the coating for the skirt is selected by determining the diameter range of the cylinder in which the piston is to be operated and also the diameter of the machined piston. As will be described hereinafter, the coating may comprise one or more layers of the dry lubricant to obtain the desired overall piston size.

As previously stated, the top land ring 13 usually has an outer diameter significantly less than the skirt area diameter to allow for thermal expansion and manufacturing tolerances. This leaves a gap between the piston and cylinder at the top or head of the piston to produce what is called "crevice volume" which allows the unburned gases that are allowed to pass into the crevice volume to be exhausted from the engine creating undesirable emissions. In accordance with this invention, the top land ring 13 is coated to an appropriate thickness with a series of one or more compressible and/or abradable coatings that reduces this gap thereby reducing undesirable emissions. This coating can also be accomplished by one or more layers of coatings as will be described hereinafter.

The material utilized in coating the top land ring 13 can be the same material as described above for the skirt. However, it may be desirable to include in the composition a catalyst to produce better combustion. Also, a thermal conductive material can possibly be used to conduct heat away from the piston to the cylinder. Most importantly, the thermal expansion of the coating must be matched to the thermal expansion of the land ring. To do this at the desired film thickness, a combination of coatings may be required.

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 illustrate the support mechanism 15 which includes a cradle 16 in which the ring band is supported as the piston 10 is rotated by the motor 17. The piston could be rotated by a gear, which meshes with a gear driving the transfer pad. The piston 10 is connected to the shaft 18 of the motor 17 by a bias plunger 20 which includes two ends 21a and 21b shaped to fit into the wrist pin openings 14a and 14b, respectively. End 21b is shaped so as to receive spring 22 which is seated in the recess 23 of end 21b and contacts the end 21a so as to bias the two ends 21a and 21b apart thereby releasably attaching plunger 20 to the piston 10. By attaching the plunger 20 within wrist pin openings 14, operation of motor 16 will rotate motor shaft 18 and plunger 20 causing rotation of piston 10. Plunger 20 can be released and withdrawn from within wrist pin openings 14 by compressing ends 21a and 21b against the bias of spring 22. A more simple fixture, holding the piston by spring tension, has also been proved acceptable for some piston designs.

FIGS. 7A-7F schematically illustrate the steps of the process of coating a piston by this invention. They disclose in schematic form one embodiment of an apparatus by which the skirt 12 can be coated with the wetted dry-film material as disclosed above. Referring to these figures, piston 10 is shown supported by support mechanism 15 within the cradle 16 as described above in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. For clarity purposes, motor 17 of FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 (or gear as previously disclosed) is not shown, it being understood that the support mechanism 15 as shown in cross section is disclosed in FIG. 5. Support mechanism 15 and piston 10 are supported in proper position with respect to the tampon transfer machine 30, as will now be described so that the wetted dry-film material can be delivered to piston 10.

Referring to FIGS. 7A-7F, machine 30 includes a fixed machine support 32 having a back support plate 31 and an under support plate 33. Machine support 30 also supports a lubricant reservoir 36 and supports a rotary cylindrical matrix plate 34 containing a matrix 38. Machine support 32 also provides support for a doctor blade 44 which is in continuous contact with cylindrical matrix plate 34. Matrix 38 has a predetermined constant depth in plate 34 which corresponds to the configuration and size of the piston skirts 12a and 12b of piston 10. A rotary cylindrical resilient elastomeric tampon 50 is in continuous contact with matrix plate 34.

The first step in the operation of machine 30 involves the covering of plate 34 with lubricant from reservoir 36. The rotation of plate 34 through reservoir 36 fills matrix 38 with lubricant (FIG. 7A). Rotation of plate 34 past doctor blade 44 scrapes excess lubricant away from plate 34 to form a matrix lubricant layer 54 having a constant depth that corresponds to the configuration and size of the flat developed pattern of piston skirts 12a and 12b of piston 10 (FIG. 7B). Tampon 50, which rotates in contact with plate 34, but in the opposite direction, contacts matrix lubricant layer 54 causing some or all of matrix lubricant layer 54 to adhere to tampon 50 to form a lubricant layer 54 (FIG. 7C). Tampon 50 then rotates tampon lubricant layer 54 into position for transfer to piston 10.

During the rotation of plate 34 and tampon 50 and the transfer of matrix lubricant layer 54 to tampon 50, the movement of support lever 19 moves support mechanism 15 causing piston 10 to contact tampon 50. The rotation of plate 34 and tampon 50 are in timed sequence with the movement of piston 10 by support lever 19 to allow the precise transfer of some or all of tampon lubricant layer 54 from tampon 50 to piston skirt 12a to form a first lubricant film coating 54 (FIG. 7D). Following the formation of first lubricant film coating 54, a second movement by support lever 19 retracts piston 10 from contact with tampon 50.

While matrix lubricant layer 54 is being transferred to tampon 50, plate 34 rotates through reservoir 36 again and covers plate 34 with lubricant (FIG. 7C). Doctor blade 44 then scrapes excess lubricant away from plate 34 again to form a second matrix lubricant layer 60 having a constant depth that corresponds to the configuration and size of the flat developed pattern of piston skirts 12a and 12b of piston 10 (FIG. 8D). Tampon 50 contacts second matrix lubricant layer 60 causing second matrix lubricant layer 60 to adhere to tampon 50 (FIG. 7E). Tampon 50 then rotates second tampon lubricant layer 60 into position for application to piston 10.

Movement of support lever 19 again moves support mechanism 15 and piston 10 into contact with tampon 50. The rotation of plate 34 and tampon 50 are in timed sequence with the movement of piston 10 by support lever 19 to allow the precise transfer of some or all of the tampon lubricant layer 60 from tampon 50 to piston skirt 12b to form a second lubricant film coating 60 (FIG. 8F). Piston 10 has been rotated 180° to provide access to piston skirt 12b. Following the formation of second lubricant film coating 60, support lever 19 again retracts piston 10 from contact with tampon 50. With the completion of the coating of piston 10 with lubricant, piston 10 is removed from piston support mechanism 15 and a new piston 10 is placed in position on piston support mechanism 15. In the preferred embodiment, the piston is recoated while still wet to enhance uniformity.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 8A-8F, wherein the apparatus and method of coating the land ring 13 includes a machine 30a substantially identical to the machine 30 of 7A and 7F. As disclosed in FIGS. 8A-8F, machine 30a includes the fixed machine support 32a, back support plate 31a and under support plate 33a, all located on the opposite side of the tampon 50 as is the reservoir 36a, the cylindrical matrix plate 34a containing the matrix 38a and the doctor blade 44a. The matrix 38a of a predetermined constant depth in the plate 34a is continuous along the entire periphery of the plate 34a so that a continuous coating of the land 13 is accomplished. Otherwise, apparatus 30a is substantially identical and operates like that of machine 30 of FIGS. 7A-7B.

During the operation of the machine 30a, the rotation of plate 34a through reservoir 36a fills matrix 38a with a dry film coating (FIG. 7A). Rotation of plate 34a past doctor blade 44a scrapes excess dry film coating away from the plate 34a to form a matrix coating layer 54a having a constant depth. As tampon 50 rotates in contact with plate 34a, but in the opposite direction, it contacts matrix coating layer 54a causing some or all of the layer to adhere to tampon 50 to form a coating layer 54a (FIG. 8C). Tampon 50 then rotates tampon coating layer 54a into position for transfer to piston 10. As disclosed in FIG. 8D, the movement of support lever 19 moves support mechanism 15 causing piston 10 to contact tampon 50. The rotation of plate 34a and tampon 50 in timed sequence with the movement of the piston 10 by support lever 19 allows the precise transfer of some or all of tampon coating 54a from tampon 50 to land ring 13. This continues until the entire land ring 13 has been coated. With the completion of the coating of the land ring 13 of piston 10 with lubricant, piston 10 is removed from the piston support mechanism 15 and a new piston is placed in position on tile piston support mechanism 15.

Referring to FIGS. 9A-9F and 10, reference numeral 30 designates the same tampon transfer machine as disclosed in FIG. 7A-7F with all of its parts including the fixed machine support 32, the back support plate 31, the upper support plate 33, lubricant reservoir 36, rotary cylindrical matrix plate 34, and doctor plate 44. In addition, FIGS. 9A-9F disclose the tampon transfer machine 30a of FIGS. 8A-8F for simultaneously applying a coating to the land ring 13. As disclosed in FIGS. 9A-9F and FIG. 10, the tampon transfer machine 30a includes tile fixed machine support 32a, back support plate 31, and an under support plate 33. Machine support 32 supports a coating reservoir 36a, the rotary cylindrical matrix plate 34a which contains a matrix 38a which in width corresponds to the width of the land ring 13. The cylindrical matrix plate 34a can be substantially the same diameter as the diameter of the piston so that at every revolution of the matrix plate 34a, one coating will be applied to the ring land 13.

Having described the operations of the tampon transfer machines 30 and 30a, it is not considered necessary to repeat the entire operation of the machines 30 and 30a. Suffice it to say that for every application of a coating at a coating station, a coating may be simultaneously applied to the land ring 13 and/or skirt. The thickness of each of the coatings will depend upon the depth of the matrixes 38 and 38a, respectively. Such simultaneous application is accomplished by the timing of the operation of tampon machines 30 and 30a and the rotation of piston 10.

It should be understood that in accordance with this invention, the sizing of a piston at the skirt area is accomplished by measuring the diameter of a defined area of a piston such as the skirt 12 and having determined the desired diameter dimension of such defined area, such diameter dimension is accomplished by applying a coating, the thickness of which relates to the difference between the desired diameter size and the measured diameter of the piston. For example, a piston with a preferred nominal skirt diameter of 80 mm may have three skirt size grades in millimeters as follows:

    ______________________________________                                         Size       Range                                                               ______________________________________                                         A          79.976-79.992 mm                                                    B          79.992-80.007 mm                                                    C          80.006-80.016 mm                                                    ______________________________________                                    

In these examples, the size range is from 10 to 16 microns. With present technology, single size range pistons will be closer to the 16 micron total range. Since all of the above pistons falling within the above size ranges are acceptable for a given engine, it is evident that the cylinders of the engine are at least 80.016 mm in diameter. Therefore, it would be desirable that each of the pistons be sized to be very close to the typical cylinder diameter. For example, a cylinder for a "B" size piston would typically have a size range of 80.038 to 80.056 mm. Therefore, the range of piston to bore clearance will vary from the extreme of the largest piston in the smallest bore (80.038 m-80.008 mm=30 microns) to the smallest piston in the largest bore (80.056 mm-79.992 mm=64 microns) or a range of difference of 34 microns. For example, with this invention, the current "B" grade pistons could be sorted into four subgroups, and then coated with different thicknesses, to compress the range of piston sizes and cylinder clearances, as shown below:

    ______________________________________                                               Diameter Prior                                                                               Coating    Diameter                                              to Coating    Thickness* After Coating                                   Grade (Millimeters) (Millimeters)                                                                             (Millimeters)                                   ______________________________________                                         B1    79.992-79.995 0.039-0.043                                                                               79.031-79.038                                   B2    79.996-79.999 0.035-0.039                                                                               79.031-79.038                                   B3    79.000-79.003 0.031-0.035                                                                               79.031-79.038                                   B4    79.004-79.007 0.027-0.031                                                                               79.031-79.038                                   ______________________________________                                          *Cumulative thickness of two sides (skirts) of the piston.               

Thus, this invention can reduce the size range from 15 microns to 7 microns, and can reduce the cylinder clearance from a range of 30 to 64 microns to 0 to 24 microns, substantially reducing the opportunity for uncombusted gases to escape as emissions. In accordance with this invention, this desired result can be accomplished by stabilizing the pistons at a standard temperature, which is suggested to be 70° F., and the piston measured by well-known contact measurement instruments such as manufactured by Freeland Gauge Co. of New Hudson, Mich., Moore Products Co. of Spring House, Pa., Omega Engineering of Stamford, Conn., Brunswick Instrument Div. of Niles, Ill., Heidenhain Corp. of Schaumburg, Ill. and Gould Inc. of Valley View, Ohio. After the piston temperature has been stabilized and the size across the skirt has been determined, a calculation is made to determine the coating thickness to be applied to the skirt. The larger size pistons will be coated with a thinner coat than the smaller size pistons.

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, a means for substantially uniformly sizing a plurality of pistons of different machined diameters can be accomplished. Apparatus can be provided to apply a different or same thickness of coating to either the skirt 12, land ring 13 or to both skirt 12 and land ring 13. One apparatus can apply one thickness, another apparatus a second thickness, and still another apparatus a third thickness. Any number of such apparatus for coating different thicknesses or the same thickness can be provided at different stations or stages. After measuring the size across the skirt 12 or land ring 13 of each piston, and preferably sorting them into groups, the defined areas of the pistons in each group having diameters within a selected range are coated by one or more coatings of a total thickness as calculated for each group. By applying a coating in one or more steps to each of the pistons of each group, the ultimate diameter range for all the pistons in each group can be reduced to reduce the clearance between such pistons and cylinder in which the pistons operate. It should be evident that any number of layers of coatings can be provided and any combination of the thicknesses of such layers can be utilized depending upon the measurement of the pistons and the cylinder diameter range.

It should be evident from the above description that I have described a unique means of sizing defined areas of a piston. Although the preferred apparatus for coating the piston is the tampon transfer apparatus and process, it should be understood that within the broader aspects of this invention, the basic concept of sizing by first measuring the piston and then coating the same with a desired thickness to achieve the desired diameter for each individual piston is a basic invention without restricting it to the preferred method and apparatus as described in this application. Therefore, changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the principles of one basic aspect of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patent law, including the doctrine of equivalents. 

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A plurality of pistons adapted to be slidably movable within inner surfaces of a plurality of cylinders, each having substantially the same bore diameter, said pistons each having an outer curved surface area subjected to frictional contact with an inner surface of one of said cylinders, said area of each piston having a coat of dry-film lubricant, the improvement comprising:at least some of said pistons before being coated having outer curved surface areas of different diameter sizes; said coatings of said dry-film lubricant on selected ones of said pistons having different selected, controlled, thicknesses selected to provide the same total outer diameter size for all of the pistons.
 2. The pistons of claim 1 in which the dry-film lubricant has a fluoropolymer as the solid lubricant.
 3. The pistons of claim 1 in which the dry film lubricant has molybdenum disulfide as the solid lubricant.
 4. The pistons of claim 1 in which the dry-film lubricant has graphite as the solid lubricant.
 5. The pistons of claim 1 in which each piston has a skirt and the curved surface area is the skirt of said piston.
 6. The pistons of claim 1 in which each piston has at least one ring groove with a top land ring above said groove and the curved surface area is the top land ring.
 7. The pistons of claim 1 in which each piston has a skirt and at least one ring groove above the skirt with a top land ring above said groove and the curved surface area is the skirt and the top land ring.
 8. The pistons of claim 1 in which the dry-film lubricant is abradable whereby if the total outer diameter of any piston is slightly greater than a cylinder in which it is intended to fit the coat of lubricant will abrade to fit the cylinder without damage to the piston or cylinder.
 9. The pistons of claim 1 in which the dry-film lubricant includes a heat transfer material to transfer the heat of combustion and compression from the pistons to the cylinders.
 10. The pistons of claim 1 wherein the dry-film lubricant was applied to said outer curved surface areas by a transfer pad coating process and then cured, the thicknesses of said coats of dry-film lubricant being determined by the thickness of the lubricant picked up and applied to said outer surface areas by said transfer pad coating process thereby controlling the total outer diameter size of said pistons at said outer surface area. 